App Gives Staff Telework Option On Hot Days

July 20, 2018

A Japanese software company has developed an application to encourage employees to work at home on extremely hot days.

The Tokyo-based firm, Infoteria Corporation, began a campaign with the new smartphone app on Thursday to help its staff work more comfortably and to improve efficiency. Unusually high temperatures continue across most parts of Japan.

The app notifies workers in the morning if the daytime high is expected to be 35 degrees Celsius or hotter. They are given the option of switching to teleworking for the day.

The company says about 30 percent of the 70 staff members at its Tokyo headquarters decided to stay at home on Friday because of the scorching weather.

Employees who came to the office used videoconferencing to talk with colleagues working at home.

An Infoteria official says they hope the teleworking campaign will serve as a model for cultivating an employee-friendly work-style when the weather is extremely hot.

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